


Busy Hands, Clear Mind

by IdlePace



Series: Catholic Boarding School AU [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Catholic School, Food mention, M/M, mentions of corporal punishment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 01:44:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4858430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdlePace/pseuds/IdlePace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A week since they last were together, and it takes a toll.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Busy Hands, Clear Mind

Lacquer painted wood spawned equivocal toxic smells as the lukewarm water seeped into the boards. The seemingly endless task turned more difficult with each inhale, making Rythian’s empty stomach twist. His fingers were waterlogged and wrinkled. Knuckles, sore and cracked, the task was truly unkind. He never dared to look up, fearing another glance at the dreaded and seemingly impossible chore, only the light from breeze creaking windows served as markers for his progression.

Each student, each teacher, and more, not a one gave a glance or care as their shoes clipped across the wet floor. Rythian held his tongue, wanting to complain about the constant disregard for his work and only causing more of it, but grumbles about punishments, only dealt him more. He could only wring his rag, and hit the spots they had muddied.

He swore the windows shook with laughter, mocking him and the position he was in. The week ago lashing still stinging fresh on his back, cutting deep to remind him of the forced isolation, and the forced penance through discipline.

Sliding the bucket of water across the worn floor, only the scratch and promise of damage to the wood kept Rythian going. Cloth to the floor, and another distasteful whiff of chemically preserved planks drifted up to him. Rythian pinched the bridge of his nose, struggling to ward off the umpteenth dizzy spell of that day.

Tilting his head back, gasping for a breath of untainted air, Rythian was beginning to wish class stretched longer. Any valid distraction to keep him away from hand scrubbing floors, even for it to be instructors droning as he sat glued to a desk too small for his legs, would be considered a well-received moment.

Air fluttered at his lips, elongating his sigh, every small thing to postpone the continued tribulation. Sluggish footsteps coming up the stairwell down Rythian’s half-done hall, affected his sight. Rubbing fiercely at his eyes using the dry side of his arms, Rythian blinked again, disbelieving the figure at the top of the stairs to be true.

A ball of excitement twirled in his stomach, with a deep breath that washed him with calm. A wide smile on his face and strong arch of his arm, Lalna’s energy could be felt from where Rythian sat on his knees. The overused water on the floor that soaked into his pants could no longer be sensed, or the creeping exhaustion that loomed over him, all Rythian could feel was exhilaration. He mirrored the wave without hesitation, his rolled up uniform sleeve unravelling with the energy of his arm movement.

For short ignorant seconds, Rythian’s mind played out a joyous reuniting scene, of warmth enveloping him, and soft dry hands helping him off the ground, but his day dream was cut by the sour expression from the habit donned Sister. The crease in her brown evident from even Rythian’s distance, as her rosary knocked together at her hip.

Lalna’s arm was pulled to rest at his side, his position changed like a doll, and ushered away to the next flight of stairs. The Sister’s voice echoed down the barren hall, “Stop involving yourself with his likes. Move along.” Sweet tricking venom dripped from her lips, ideas Rythian hoped Lalna would all ignore.

Watching the one moment of joy in his grey stained day, slowly ascend the stairs against his will, boiled infuriation from the depths of Rythian’s soul. There was no satisfying splat as the flung rag collided with the wall, no viable comfort with soap water fingers pressing to his eyes. Rythian couldn’t even collect the needed energy to scream into the voided hall, only the continuous quiet murmurs of his mind.

Whether it was for rebellion, or pure exhaustion, Rythian held still, stubborn to move from the middle of the hall as determined steps creaked his way. Waiting on the moment they’d pass, remark about his job, or lack thereof, waiting for a cracked voice of disappointment.

The mock of a bird’s whistle pierced louder than he had will to ignore. “These halls will sparkle once you get them done! They making you polish too?”

Rythian didn’t need to see the lips crack a smile as the snicker told all. Palm to his cheek, rubbing away mud mixed water from his face, Rythian struggled to form any greeting above a curse. “I wouldn’t suppose you and your contraband filled closest would have anything to help me.”

The primped student pulled at his still growing puberty blazoned beard, “Nothing that could really help you here. I don’t specialize in giving out mops.” Bouncing his eyes along the scene, spotting the forlorn rag and half empty bucket, eyebrows jumped at the state of the water’s colour. “Have you not bothered to change that?”

Hearing the reaction amused Rythian to the point of laughter, something he thought the day wouldn’t bring him to. “Of course not, Sjin.” A weary look up at his classmate and he could feel the confusion from his expression. “If I do it badly, they’ll just make me do it again.”

Improper posture with a hand in his pocket, Sjin buzzed his lips. “And you want to do it again, why?”

Just the thought of crawling on his hands and knees to retrieve the cloth shook Rythian’s bones. Each method of discipline they sought to erase his belly full of pride were used infinitely, but it remained deep with his lingering cluster of core sins.

Snubbing the rag, Rythian altered his legs, trying for a dignified seat. “Because,” Legs tucked under and arms behind his back, he craned the rest to meet the other teen’s face. “Then I’ll just be doing this, instead of the rest of the list they have for me.”

“They gave you a list?” Pursing his lips, Sjin patted his chest in sympathy. “I know you messed up and all, but…” Another perked whistle, shrill sounds again making Rythian cringe.

“We can’t all be ass kissers with a secret business on the side.” Even as he wished he could have the same achievements Sjin made to survive the boarding school, brash words and a strong unbending back were unchangeable for Rythian’s nature.

“Which is one thing we need to discuss…” Sjin’s tone drifted off, his focus falling on the squeak he discovered his shoe made against the floor. “You’re going to put me out of business, and it’s all your fault Enderborn.”

Kicking the pail with the heel of his shoe, the low thump would have been pleasing if the splash back had not followed it. “I can’t do anything about that. He’s _your_ roommate.”

Frustrated with fluttery hands that cemented to his hips, Sjin’s bend forward eased into his voice drop. “But he’s _your_ boyfriend. You need to do something about it!” His hiss between teeth scattered a mist of spit, its fall floated along with the afternoon sun.

Rythian’s head tilted up to the dark wood ceiling, “I like when people call him that…” His words kept to himself. A self-indulgent moment to take his mind away.

“He’s eating too much of my good milk chocolate bonbons!” Sjin stomped his foot with a huff, taking note of Rythian’s distracted mind. “Anything sugary that’s banned by the school that I supply, he whines like a sad puppy until I give him some.”

With a stagnant hum, his head rolled back, a crack of bone amplified by the barren hall. “He’s an emotional eater.” Head back to the ceiling, and one hand wiping the mix of dirty bucket water and sweat away, Rythian could almost consider what he was doing to be taking a break. “Just make him a tab if you need to.”

“Rythian, honestly.” Sjin puffed an exasperated tone, unable to believe the words he was hearing. “I can be heartless when I need to, but not to my best friend who’s been crying into his pillow every night.”

An ache spiraled across his heart. Each beat pushed the pain to grow as Rythian wished his vivid imagination wouldn’t play out a replicate scene of what Sjin spoke of. He closed his eyes to flush it away, but words still clenched his chest.

“What can I do…?” Words fell with his head. “They won’t let me near him. His constant watch, and my chores. They’re doing a really good job this time of keeping us apart.” Drawing constant circles along the ground with his nail, watching his finger move along with the smell of floor cleaner spun Rythian’s mind. He felt an unfamiliar sense of comfort as Sjin tossed his hands into the air. Even with their clashing ways of thought, a distraction, a body to talk to, soothed him. Every minute away from cleaning was enjoyed.

By his grumble, the level of pity Sjin could give lowered by each sentence. “You had to get goo-goo eyed for the good church going boy huh? The one who sings in the choir, the one who loves going to class, the one with the affluent family who donate huge lump sums to the church!” Disappointment, all a mask on Sjin. Hiding his own annoyance about the situation. “Had to have been him, huh?”

The dampness at Rythian’s knees continued to grow. The brown fabric drew more water as his mind wandered. “He’s everything…”

“Oh geeze.” Sjin’s eyes rolled around in his head, “Did you even know that the congregation thinks you’re a lost cause? You can’t even remember the first set of bead prayers, and yet you go and suck face with the one everyone thought was sweet and innocent.”

A tasteless sound from the click of his tongue and Sjin crossed his arms. “Right now they’re hoping he can still be ‘saved’. You on the other hand, have been deemed too far gone.” His hips swayed undecided, waiting to firmly plant in one course. The hazy eyes that looked back at him spoke without sound. Too far daydreaming to hear every truth he tried to warn Rythian with, even as he knew he would be ignored. “You’re lucky he likes you too much.”

Sjin’s smile uncurled as the sound of quick footsteps grew to be apparent. His sharp shoulders twisted with his body, looking behind to place noise with action. “Ah,” Taking a stride to the side, Sjin left Rythian as an open target. “Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.”

Closely classified as leaps, the teen of discussion barrelled down the hall. His frantic arms at his sides displayed his desperate energy. Raw and hurried, without slowing down, crashing with the teen on the floor, Lalna couldn’t even summon a breath before his arms were tight around the other’s neck.

“Quick!” His voice broke as he gasped, the force of his run finally hitting him. “Sister Constance really lives up to her name! Before she catches me!”

Even with the wind knocked from his lungs, and his back firmly on the wet floor, Rythian didn’t lose a second of the golden opportunity. The reuniting kiss after a sobering week, each seemed to fill the other with life again. A hand in the blonde hair and Rythian wished he could hold Lalna to his chest until he fell asleep. He missed the nights of sneaking to Lalna’s room, eating their lunches together in empty classrooms, all of seemed to glow as a distant memory. Moments he wanted to have again, without the strict watch.

A relaxed sigh against his skin from the warm nose at his neck drew shivers up Rythian’s spine. His vision spun for all different reasons than when it did before. It helped him to ignore the muffled sound in his ears of Sjin’s warning.

“Rythian...”

Quiet tones floated across his lips, drawing his sight to the blazing cheeks in front of him. Lalna managed a full smile despite the situation, interlocking in a soft kiss to provide more strength.

“I have to go now… before we’re caught again.”

Rythian tried to close his mind off, pretend to be blissfully unaware of what Lalna spoke of, but the scarring fire at his back reminded him of what they would receive again if they didn’t pretend. Act like their lesson was learned, their actions would not be repeated, and gradually, with more caution than before, do as they did again.

“Be safe, okay? And don’t listen to anything they say.” Rythian’s fingers combed through the messy blonde hair, a relaxing action to sooth them both. “I love you, don’t let them tell you anything different.”

An airy laugh as Lalna strained to sit up from his place on Rythian, and it became clearer of Sjin’s urging words to hurry along. “What? Believe them when they tell me you’re damning us both?” Rythian didn’t have time to let his nerves bite his lips, Lalna had captured them first. “I’ve already fallen for you, haven’t I?”

The paranoid twitch in Sjin’s body exploded as he grabbed for Lalna. “Seriously you two! Before I’m seen as an accessory!” Sjin’s arms were the only force pulling Lalna up from the ground, his own legs still had to find reason to stand. Hand to Lalna’s shoulder, and his guiding turned to dragging as he could get the feet to march, but the head still turned back to glance one more time at Rythian.

It stung more than Rythian thought possible, to be separated after the short fill. Every ounce of power he had left held him back from springing to his feet. He had to hold back, to have a chance for Lalna to be in his arms again. He debated on praying for that time to come faster, but he didn’t know if his words would be heard, or even who they would be heard by.

Yet he closed his eyes, and held his hands at the center of his shirt, holding to the last of the warmth Lalna left him. If anyone, anything, could hear him, he murmured his prayer, of pleas and hopes. To save Lalna, from any dark or hard fate he may have been tainted with, but, he could not bring himself to wish away the center of it all. He added to his prayer, to send Lalna love.


End file.
